The First Stock Listed on the Growth Enterprise Market in 2026: Three Stories of Zhu Guolai, Founder of Gude Electric Materials

On March 6th, Gude Electric Materials (301680) listed on the Growth Enterprise Market, becoming the first company to go public on the GEM in 2026.

Gude Electric Materials was founded in 2008 in Fenghu New District, Wujiang, Jiangsu. Starting with electrical insulation materials for power and electrical engineering, in 2017, the company seized the opportunity of the new energy vehicle industry’s development, while increasing investment in technology R&D and market expansion. It has now become a leading enterprise in the niche market of thermal runaway protection for new energy vehicles.

As the founder of Gude Electric Materials, Chairman Zhu Guolai did not read from a script at the IPO thank-you dinner, but instead shared a heartfelt story about the “Three Cars, Three Mentors, Three Curves, and Three Golden Sentences.” This deeply moved many guests present.

Through these four dimensions of heartfelt stories, the growth genes and future development secrets of an invisible champion in manufacturing are clearly revealed.

Below is the transcript of the speech:

Life Opportunities: Catching the “Three Cars”

My life has encountered three good opportunities, all related to three “cars.”

The first was a green train, which took me from Suzhou to Changchun to attend university, giving me the chance to pursue higher education. Here, I systematically learned knowledge, broadened my horizons, and met talented teachers and classmates.

After graduation, I caught the second train, which was China’s accession to the WTO. Subsequently, our country’s economy developed rapidly for about 20 years. During this period, on a certain day in 2008, Gude Electric was also established.

After a certain stage of economic development, our country began to attach great importance to tech companies. Because of this emphasis, we had the opportunity to list on the GEM today. Therefore, the third “car” is technology and new energy vehicles. In 2016, Gude Electric made breakthroughs in R&D in the field of thermal runaway protection solutions for new energy electric vehicles, and we caught the golden age of rapid growth in the new energy vehicle industry.

Three cars, three major opportunities. Thankful for the times.

Learning Skills: Encountered Three Mentors

Opportunities favor the prepared. I am also very fortunate to have met three mentors, which helped me prepare for the future in advance.

The first mentor was Teacher Ye Gendi, the homeroom teacher at Wujiang Middle School. Teacher Ye is a physics teacher. Thanks to his careful guidance back then, I learned to break down problems, find solutions, and persistently move forward when facing difficulties and pressures later in my work. This method is called spatial thinking, with a professional term called first principles. Teacher Ye first taught me how to decompose and solve problems from a physics perspective. Thank you, Teacher Ye.

The second mentor was Professor Wang Xuwei from Jilin University. Professor Wang has long been engaged in research on information behavior, big data analysis, and public opinion analysis, representing an interdisciplinary approach. Because I admired Professor Wang, I gradually learned a small skill in my work: multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary ability, which also provided a good mindset for Gude Electric’s current economic development model.

The third mentor is Professor Gong Yan from CEIBS. Professor Gong told us that although the current era is one of overcapacity, as long as we master a special method—paradigm migration—we can upgrade and iterate the enterprise by balancing existing assets and current assets, balancing old teams and new teams, and balancing past paths and current paths. Thank you, Professor Gong!

Career Leap: The “Three Curves”

With opportunities, I kept trying small experiments and started Gude’s new journey.

The first step in my journey was developing electrical power and electrical engineering, called the foundational curve. The company started in Suzhou Wujiang Fenghu Innovation Park with electrical insulation business, providing insulation materials and system solutions for nuclear power, hydropower, and other power generation equipment and ultra-high-voltage transmission equipment.

The second step is the thermal runaway protection as the 1.0 growth curve. As the global penetration of new energy vehicles gradually increased, starting in 2017, the thermal runaway protection for power batteries in new energy vehicles became an innovative, breakthrough business, continuously becoming a growth point for the company’s current and future performance.

The third step is the new copper-aluminum composite materials as the 2.0 growth curve.

Placing these three curves together naturally forms the “Gude Flywheel,” which requires three pillars to sustain its development: first, our excellent Gude team; second, a set of scientific mechanisms; and third, a set of advanced tools like AI.

The clean energy track is a very high-quality track. Although AI and humanoid robots are more glamorous, their core development depends on a special material: electrical energy. What does electrical energy need? Conductivity—this is the core value of our 2.0 growth curve of copper-aluminum composite materials! When electrical energy is transmitted, insulation becomes a key link, which is the foundation we continue to deepen. As energy density increases, safety protection becomes crucial. Our 1.0 curve provides comprehensive protection solutions. Therefore, all three curves can serve future frontier industries. Since the frontiers we serve are long and spacious, Gude people must focus, concentrate, and deeply cultivate the clean energy track to create more value for society and investors!

A clear development strategy is Gude’s navigation, and strong spiritual strength is the core support for continuous growth and new achievements. I use the “Three Horses” golden sentences to encourage all Gude colleagues, uniting us with powerful momentum.

Standing on the fertile land of Shenzhen’s innovation, we should practice the philosophy of “Time is money, efficiency is life,” accelerate Gude’s speed, actively absorb industry advanced experience, and use it for our benefit, accumulating strength in sedimentation and striving to lead.

Remembering Wei Yuan’s wisdom of “learning from barbarians to control barbarians,” we should follow the pace of the times, adapt to technological iteration trends, uphold Darwin’s law of “survival of the fittest,” be brave in reform, keep pace with the times, and strengthen the core competitiveness of the enterprise.

With Gude Electric’s listing on the capital market, this is a new starting point and a major opportunity. We must adhere to long-termism, abandon short-term impatience, and aspire to be a company rooted in the times, courageously taking on missions, and writing new chapters in the tide of the era.